Saturday, February 17, 2007

Chris Leak & the Wonderlic

I've recently received a few emails about Chris Leak's reported score of 8. Here are my thoughts on the issue.First, this information came from a reliable source, nfldraftscout.com, which obtained the score from the Univ. of Florida's pro day in 2006 (not 2007). It wasn't invented or misreported as in Vince Young's case last year. It cannot be stressed enough that a practice test taken in 2006 is not comparable to a Combine test in 2007. Other information I was able to find on Chris Leak:High school honor roll student,3.0+ College GPA, degree in Social and Behavioral ScienceLeak's 2006 campus workout4.66 in the 40-yard dash300-pound bench press (bench presses 225 pounds 10 times)400-pound squat31-inch vertical jump9'5" broad jump4.24 20-yard shuttle30 3/8-inch arm length9 3/8-inch hands8/12 Wonderlic scoreThe 8/12 Wonderlic score means Leak answered 12 questions and got 8 of them right. Personally, I'd be more concerned about his intelligence if he had answered 50 questions and gotten only 8 correct. One of the important things to remember here is that the Wonderlic score measures general intelligence aptitude, and not work ethic or likely NFL success. Leak was a high school honor roll student, an a Draddy finalist (http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=1008), and he's has worked hard for his many successes with what many consider marginal tools.Whether or not Leak gets a chance to succeed or fail in the NFL will not be determined by his Wonderlic score, but by his height and arm strength, both of which rank him near the bottom of the 2007 qb draft prospects. NFL teams invest millions scouting players and are very careful who they select before signing 23-year-olds to multi-year mult-million dollar deals. A low Wonderlic score simply raises a flag which interested teams will address during interviews at the combine or prospect's pro day.In the Spring of 2005, I published a paper in which I presented an empirical analysis of the relationships between intelligence and both passing performance in college and compensation in the NFL. I selected a group of 84 quarterbacks who were drafted and subsequently signed to NFL rosters from 1989 to 2004. My hypothesis was that intelligence is the most important and perhaps most rewarded at the quarterback position. I used a wide variety of passing performance statistics and Wonderlic scores to separate the effects of intelligence and ability. The estimated models revealed no statistically significant relationship between intelligence and collegiate passing performance. Likewise, I found no evidence of higher compensation in the NFL for players with higher intelligence as measured by the Wonderlic Personnel Test administered at the NFL Scouting Combine.

5 Comments:

Leak was ALWAYS way overrated. The fact that he was rated as highly as he was in related to where and when he played. His actual ability (strength, speed, intelligence) has always been marginal. In the NFL you don't make it will marginal physical capabilities and less than adequate intelligence.

I know Chris Leak personally since his middle school days. I always found him to be quite and thoughtful. In high school he never had any issues with the offense nor football iq. He seemed to have "it". At the Elite 11 QB camp prior to his senior year he was voted the most ready to start as a college freshman. Height and mobility were probably Leak's biggest issues in college. Give him a lot of one and he would have been ok with the other.